Although I’m not 100% certain, it appears FOX was on first with the news that a compromise on the Fillibuster deal had been reached with CNN right behind it. However MSNBC was caught woefully out of position and behind the curve. Hardball was Live for a change but it was on location which may have been a factor. But the fact remains that rather than interrupt the interview Mathews was conducting, MSNBC instead opted to put up a lower third announcing the upcoming press conference…and only about 5-7 minutes after FOX and CNN went live with the news.

The idea that Mathews and the remote crew had no idea what was going on was partially borne out by Mathews tossing to break by saying that up next would be a story on the fillibuster showdown that’s going to happen tomorrow….five minutes after MSNBC changed that lower 3rd. It wasn’t until he came back from break that Mathews acknowledged the news conference. Black eye for MSNBC tonight…

UPDATE: What’s Happening at CNN reported that FOX dumped back to a taped O’Reilly Factor at 8 pm while CNN stayed on the story with Paula Zahn Now. MSNBC dumped back to Hardball for analysis and then went to Countdown at 8 pm.